Hydraulic Fracturing is becoming an increasingly important technique for producing oil and natural gas from portions of hydrocarbon formations which may have been previously inaccessible. Hydraulic Fracturing is a process of injecting oil and gas wells with water, sand and specialized chemicals at very high pressure. This process can involve hundreds of thousands of pounds of fracturing sand or “frac sand,” which may result in airborne silica dust. Although there are many benefits to using Hydraulic Fracturing techniques to produce natural gas and oil resources, there are also concerns about possible Health-Environment-Safety (HES) effects associated with silica dust. In processes such as fracking, frac sand can produce breathable crystalline silica dust, which is a potential exposure hazard. Long term exposure to or breathing excessive amounts of crystalline silica can result in silicosis, which is a respiratory disease that causes scarring in lung tissue. Once silicosis has begun, medical treatment can be difficult. Therefore, proper handling of the frac sand to avoid overexposure to silica dust is important.
Silica exposure may occur in a number of jobs, including road work, drilling of oil or concrete, glassmaking, sandstone work, and some manufacturing processes. Despite the risk of silicosis, workers may not always have adequate safety equipment that could reduce their risk of illness from exposure to silica sand.
To protect, for example, oil field workers, drilling companies and other stakeholders associated with hydraulic fracking have adopted HES regulations to prevent overexposure to silica dust by workers or others who may be in the vicinity. Therefore, there is a need for systems and methods of monitoring the different levels of airborne crystalline silica dust (and other hazardous chemicals used in fracking) by on-site stationary and mobile sensors and off-site desktop and mobile application to protect against overexposure to silica dust.